Vice President Leni Robredo spoke about the importance of the academe's contribution to nation-building during her keynote speech at Pasidungog 2018, the first Partners Appreciation Event of the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College, held at the SMX Convention Center, SM City Bacolod, in Bacolod City on Wednesday, May 9, 2018.

MANILA, Philippines — Satisfaction ratings of Vice President Leni Robredo and House Speaker Gloria Arroyo slid down in the last quarter of 2018 with the lower chamber's leader suffering the biggest loss among the Philippines' top officials, the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.

Results of the Q4 2018 poll published by SWS on Tuesday showed Arroyo's net satisfaction rating was down 17 points from -4 or "neutral" in September 2018 to -21 or "poor" in December 2018.

SWS attributed the decline in the overall net satisfaction rating of Arroyo to decreases in all areas, especially in the Visayas where she took a 23-point decline from +8 in September to -15 in December.

This is followed by Mindanao (down by 19 points from -3 to -22), Balance Luzon (down by 13 points from -4 to -17), Metro Manila (down by 11 points from -25 to -36).

Arroyo's net satisfaction rating also dropped in all socio-demographics, except among the class ABC where she got a boost from -16 in September 2018 to -10 in December 2018.

Her ratings dropped from "neutral" to "poor" among class D or the "masa" (down by 18 points from -4 to -22) and class E (down by 15 points from -3 to -18).

Her net satisfaction rating also fell from neutral to poor in all age groups and educational levels, with the sharpest declines among 55 years old and above and among non-elementary graduates.

VP Robredo dips to 'moderate'

Robredo, meanwhile, got a net satisfaction rating of +27 or "moderate," which is down by 7 points from +34 in September 2018 to +27 in December 2018.

SWS said decreases of 15 points (from +35 to +20) in Balance Luzon, 7 points (from +23 to +16) in Metro Manila and 3 points (from +34 to +31) in Mindanao, combined with a 9-point (from +39 to +48) increase in the Visayas, resulted in the decline.

Rural net satisfaction with Robredo, however, stayed at "very good," although down by 2 points from +38 in September to +36 in December.

On the other hand, her net satisfaction among the urban population stayed at "moderate." But this is still down by 14 points from her +28 in September.

Robredo's net satisfaction rating also declined in all age groups polled, except among the 18-24 year olds (up by 3 points from +33 to +36) where she stayed at "very good."

She also suffered losses among all socio-demographics. Her net ratings fell from "good" to "moderate" among class D or the "masa" (down by 7 points from +33 to +26) while it stayed at "good" among class E (down by 2 points from +48 to +46) and "neutral" among class ABC (down by 2 points from +2 to net zero).

Sotto gets boost in ratings

Only, Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III got a hike in his net satisfaction ratings among the four officials in the SWS poll.

Sotto's net satisfaction rating stayed at "very good," up by 6 points from +55 in September 2018 to +61 in December 2018.

The rise in his overall net satisfaction rating was due to increases in Metro Manila (15 points, from +52 to +67), Mindanao (14 points, from +41 to +55) and in the Visayas (11 points, from +49 to +60), combined with a 2-point decline in Balance Luzon (from +65 to +63), SWS explained.

Across socio-demographics, Sotto's net satisfaction rating has also either increased or remained steady from September to December.

Bersamin gets first rating as SC chief justice

Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin who was appointed as top magistrate last year in November, nearly a month before the SWS poll was conducted, got a +11 or "moderate" as his first net satisfaction rating.

By area, net satisfaction with Bersamin was highest in Balance Luzon at moderate +17, followed by the Visayas at moderate +12, Metro Manila at neutral +9 and Mindanao at neutral +3.

It was at moderate +19 in urban areas, compared to neutral +6 in rural areas.

Among socio-demographics, his net satisfaction rating was highest in class ABC at +39 or "good," followed by class E at +12 or "moderate," and class D at +9 or "neutral."

Meanwhile, he got the highest support among the 18-24 age group at +24 or "moderate," followed by 55 year olds and above at +12 or "moderate," 25-34 year olds at +10 also "moderate," 45-54 year olds at +9 or "neutral" and 35-44 year olds at +7 also "neutral."

Bersamin's net satisfaction rating also tends to be higher among those with more years of formal schooling. It was highest among college graduates at +15 or "moderate," followed by high school graduates at +11 or "moderate," elementary graduates also at +11 or "moderate" and non-elementary graduates at +7 or "neutral."

The Q4 2018 SWS poll was conducted from December 16-19, 2018 using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 360 each in Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

It has a sampling error margin of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Before President Rodrigo Duterte left Thursday for his one-on-one with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, he promised to “invoke” the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague that resolved some maritime disputes between the two neighbors.

Eight warships, four aircraft and more than a thousand personnel from the US and ten Southeast Asian countries will join maritime drills kicking off Monday, as part of a joint exercise extending into the flashpoint South China Sea.

China has rejected as “unwelcome” the call of the United Kingdom, France and Germany on the South China Sea claimants to respect the arbitration ruling of 2016 and the rules-based framework laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).